Fastening for gates



(No Model.)

L. E. BRADFORD. FASTENING FOR GATES. i

No. 429,995. Patented June 10, 1890.

TH: uonnls versus no, mb'ro-umm, wlinmurnu, n. c.

" UNITED-i STATES PATENT. OFFicE.

LEWIS E. BRADFORD, OF HOWARD, KANSAS.

FASTENING FO'R GATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,995, dated 'June10, 1890.

Application filed January 25, 1890. Serial No. 338,039. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS E. BRADFORD, of Howard, in the county of Elkand State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Fastenings for Gates; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to an improvement in fastenings for gates, theobject being to provide a light and inexpensive fastening for wiregates, comprising few parts, capable of being easily operated, andhaving such mechanism and construction that the sagging of the gate isabsolutely prevented and the gate is kept taut at all times.

With this end in View the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aview in side elevation. Fig.2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the leverwhich fastens the gate.

A A represent the posts of the gate, and B B B are a series of wireswhich constitute the body of the gate. These wires may be a continuationof the wires of the fence, or they may be separate wires. In eitherevent they are rigidly secured to the post A. At the opposite ends thesewires are fastened to a cross-bar 1, which forms the outer end of thegate.

The following means are provided for fastening the gate and keeping theWires of which it is composed taut. Hand-lever 3 is connected by meansof a wire 7 with the cross-bar 1, the wire being secured at each end andpassing loosely through the lever a short distance from its fulcrum. Thelever is furnished with an eye 5 at one end, by which it is looselymounted on a hook or pintle 5 on either side of the post A. By thusmounting this lever and swinging it around into the position shown inFigs. land 2 the gate is fastened and held taut. Now, as a means fortaking up any slack in the wires which is liable to result from theirstretching, the following is'provided: The body of the hand-lever isslotted, as shown at 8, and the wire 7, in-

round, as shown, opposite the position of the stead of having a fixedconnection with the lever, passes through a hole 9 in a movable block10, mounted in the slotted portion of the lever. A screw 11 extendsthrough the hand-lever and is swiveled therein at its outer end, and itsthreaded end registers with a correspondingly-threaded screw-hole in theend of the slide-block, so that when the screw is turned the block 10 ismoved in one direction or the other. The screw is provided on its outerend with an eyelet or hook 12, by which it is turned or by which it maybe hung up, if desired.

In operating the fastening in closing the gate the pint-1e 5 of one ofthe hooks that extends upward is put through the hole in the end of thelever 3, the lever being brought to the hook in the post, and the leveris swung 7o gate. As the wire in the gate becomes stretched or the gatesags, the screw-bolt 11 is turned to the right, and the slide-block 10is thereby moved outward to tighten the wires in the gate again. Thismay be repeated as often as is required to keep the gate taut. By thetwo hooks 2 2, driven in opposite sides of the post A, the gate may befastened to either side of the post.

It is evident that slight changes might be resorted to in the form andarrangement of the several parts described, and hence I do not wish tolimit myself to the exact construction herein set forth; but,

Havingfullydescribed my invention, whatI 85 claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with posts and wires, of a lever adapted to havepivotal connection with one of the posts, said lever having a movableblock or equivalent device connected therewith, to which the wires areconnected, whereby slack in the wires may be taken up, or they may beloosened by changing the po- Y sition of the block, substantially as setforth.

2. The combination, with a pair of posts, wires permanently secured toone post, and a cross-bar attached to the free end of the wires, of ahook secured to the post, and a lever having a movable block thereinwith which th cross-bar of the gate has connection, said leve' adaptedto be fulcrumed on the hook for t into the slide-block for operating thelatter, said bolt having a loop formed in its outer end, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscrib- 15 ing witnesses.

LEWIS E. BRADFORD. lVitnesses:

JOHN MARSHALL, GEO. R. HEWITT.

